Enough of this Greek farce: everyone knows default is coming

The “Greek tragedy” metaphor has proved irresistible to columnists, but what is taking place in Athens owes less to Sophocles than to Ionesco.

No one seriously thinks that the measures adopted by the Greek parliament will end the crisis. In Brussels and in Athens, officials are conniving at an official suspension of disbelief.

In their imaginary world, Greece has now turned the corner. Tax evasion will stop. Public expenditure will fall. Privatization will bring in an extraordinary €50 billion. The county’s creditors will be satisfied, and Greece will return to growth.

In the real world, none of these things will happen – certainly not while Greece remains caged by the euro. Never mind the credibility of the fiscal reforms. Look at what ought to be the easy bit: the sale of state assets. Greece is proposing to denationalize a water company, a gas supplier, a rail operator, an airport, a casino, a nickel mine and much else. Good. The fact that all these concerns are owned by the state goes some way to explain why the Hellenic Republic is in its present mess and, in the long term, their transfer to the private sector will indeed boost growth.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100094699/what-is-happening-in-athens-is-a-farce-everyone-knows-that-a-default-is-coming/